Market report: Playtech builds war chest to fund spree

The Plus500 gamble by Playtech is not the only deal on Teddy Sagi’s mind.

The Israeli billionaire’s gambling software group, down 20p to 788p, is raising £250 million to fund the £460 million takeover of the troubled, AIM-listed, online-trading firm.

But it also plans to splash out on a “midsize B2C broker” following April’s acquisition of TradeFX, which generated $42.2 million (£26.5 million) in revenues during the year to May 31.

Sagi himself is buying 33.6% of the shares on offer to maintain his stake in Playtech. The price of the placing will be determined by an accelerated bookbuilding process, now underway.

Last month, Plus500 froze customer accounts in the UK amid a probe into its money-laundering controls. Playtech swooped in with a low-ball bid after the share price went into freefall. The group also announced it snapped up more shares in Plus500, taking its stake to 9.36%. That means close to 45%, including Plus500’s founders, are now backing the 400p-a-share takeover.

All eyes are back on Greece’s debt debacle, as the FTSE 100 drifted 26.26 points lower to 6654.29.

IG Index’s Chris Weston said: “Expectations for any sort of resolution are low and after the huge levels of depositor outflows from Greek bank accounts, expectations of capital controls this weekend have really ramped up.”

Precious-metals producers Randgold Resources, up 117p to 4544p, and Fresnillo, up 17p to 729p, were lifted by the Fed’s more cautious tone, which weakened the dollar improving the demand for gold and silver in the process.

Estate agent Hunters unveiled the blueprint for its AIM float. Saracens rugby club chairman Nigel Wray, the largest shareholder with an 18.8% chunk of Hunters, will be hoping to replicate the success he saw at Domino’s Pizza, another business that runs a franchise model.

The group of companies on the hunt for oil near Gatwick revealed the latest independent assessment from the Horse Hill licence shows a best estimate of 9.2 billion barrels in place. UK Oil & Gas, up 0.025p at 2.34p, Solo Oil, down 0.02p to 0.49p, and Stellar Resources, down 0.03p to 0.49p, all have stakes in the project.

Sirius Minerals slumped 5.75p to 15.75p after a report concluded its plan to mine potash from the North York Moors National Park would damage the Yorkshire beauty spot.